Moratinos, who is in Cuba on a two-day visit, which began Sunday, met his Cuban Counterpart Bruno Rodriguez to strengthen bilateral ties ahead of the Spanish presidency of the EU in the first half of 2010.

"It has been a meeting between friends who have a common will to continue working together in the future," said Moratinos.

He expressed his hope for more intensive dialogues over all the questions on which the two countries need to work together.

"Our wish is for Cuba to be a friend country of ours and Spain can work and cooperate with Cuba," added Moratinos, whose country will donate around 50 million U.S. dollars in aid to the island in 2009.

"We want to find a new way to strengthen relations with this country, which is of enormous importance for Spain," he concluded.